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Montreal development part of Fitwel pilot project

5 years ago

A planned 20-acre neighbourhood in Montreal is one of nine in the world — and the only Canadian site — participating in a Fitwel pilot project. The Quartier des Lumières is helping to lay the groundwork for an international Fitwel Community certification. 

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French waste management company Suez has signed a deal with the City of Montreal to create an organic waste treatment centre. The new plant will convert organic waste material into biomethane, providing enough renewable gas to power around 3,600 households.

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A new initiative has encouraged three major players with buildings across Canada — QuadReal Property GroupTriovest and Concert Properties — to publicly share energy and water consumption data from their portfolios, using the Canadian Green Building Council’s Disclosure data visualization tool.

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When visitors enter the new Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, many pick up on two features often conspicuously absent in other buildings; the light-filled space is surprisingly quiet, while the air is unexpectedly fresh.

Energy Profiles Limited

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In 1977, Saskatchewan Research Council assembled a team of experts to build a “solar house.” The resulting Saskatchewan Conservation House pioneered many features — airtightness, passive heating and cooling, and heat-recovery ventilation — that would form the basis for the Passive House movement.

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The Stirling Prize is the top award in British architecture.  It often goes to the flashy attention-grabber like last year when Bloomberg’s London office won. This year, the winner was a housing project built for the Norwich City Council.

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A wide range of energy-efficiency tools and strategies – professional energy audits, lighting replacements with ‘smart’ LED systems, HVAC updates with automated controls and general energy-saving practices – can have a significant impact on the bottom line for commercial property managers.

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Total corporate funding in the solar sector (including venture capital/private equity, public market, and debt financing) for the first nine months of 2019 was up with $9 billion raised, compared to $6.7 billion in for the same time period in 2018, a 34% increase year-over-year.

Better Buildings Breakfast

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Solar power is beating expectations in oil- and gas-rich Alberta, where the renewable energy source is poised to expand dramatically in the coming years as international power companies invest in the province.

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The largest pension fund in Norway has removed four Calgary-based companies – Cenovus Energy, Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, and Husky Energy – from its investment list in an effort to cut ties with Alberta’s oilsands and meet worldwide greenhouse gas emissions targets.

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The president of the Canadian Wind Energy Association says the industry has proven that wind can compete on price with other sources of electrical power but now it must prove it can be just as reliable.

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The Bank of England’s supervisory statement SS3/19 sets out the regulator’s expectations for how banks and insurers should manage the financial risks of climate change, including governance and risk management frameworks, scenario analyses, stress testing and disclosure of climate-related risks.

BOMA

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More than eight-in-10 individual U.S. investors now express interest in sustainable investing, while half take part in at least one sustainable investing activity, according to a new survey published by the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing.

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A green bond is a debt security allotted to raise capital specifically to fund projects that have progressive environmental benefits.  Green bond verification improves the integrity of your debt issuance’s environmental or climate benefit claim via third-party verification.

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For the second year in a row, Nestlé and Tim Hortons were the top companies behind branded plastic bottles, coffee cups, lids and other plastic waste collected in shoreline cleanups across the country according to a Greenpeace Canada report.

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The Town of Banff is targeting the commercial sector with its “Zero Waste Trail” campaign, a voluntary initiative through which businesses receive a free assessment of their waste systems, tips on waste diversion, cost-saving ideas, free kitchen signage and more.

Matrix360

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Hawaii, Maine, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are pursuing 100% renewables. A dozen states have set standards to achieve at least 50%  Others like California have “clean energy” goals meant to spur renewables. And more than 100 cities are striving for 100% renewables.

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Forty-five members of B.C.’s  Business Coalition for a Clean Economy have signed an open letter, affirming their support for a Canada-wide climate plan that makes good on our Paris Agreement commitment to limit global warming to 1.5–2°C.

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More cities need to move at the local level to advance upgrades that can protect properties and saves lives. But despite a groundswell of political support for green initiatives, sustainability and resiliency upgrades remain limited and unaffordable for most Americans.

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Pennsylvania’s decision to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to curb carbon pollution from its power plants is the “right move for Pennsylvania businesses and the economic vitality of the Commonwealth,” said Ceres’ manager of state policy, Alli Gold Roberts.

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